Autocar Professional first broke the news about Scania Commercial Vehicles India (SCVI) planning to import its biofuel run bus into India for trial run purposes, in October 2013. The Swedish CV manufacturer is now all set to import a single unit of its zero emission biofuel bus this month (April 2014), which will then undergo the homologation process at the concerned authorities (ARAI, CIRT) in India. SCVI plans to execute the trial run of this zero emission bus in Bangalore later this year.

According to Krister Thulin, director, pre-sales and marketing, SCVI, “At an average, the homologation process takes nearly three months. Once that is done, we plan to begin the trial run in Bangalore.”

SCVI has been talking to the Karnataka state government for over six months to get the approvals in place for kick starting the trial run in Bangalore. “We are also in talks with the Delhi government. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has also shown interest in our zero emission buses,” added Thulin.

The company, which plans to import more biofuel run buses into India with the successful trial run later this year, is globally known for its bioethanol run trucks and buses and is the only manufacturer in the world that has effectively produced bioethanol applications for the heavy transport industry. Produced from a variety of raw materials, like sugarcane, beets, cellulose and others, bioethanol is used as a pure fuel and in low blends. Scania claims that its engines adapted for bioethanol fuel have the same energy efficiency as a standard diesel engine and fulfils the Euro V emission requirements.

Interestingly, the company has recently rolled out five-cylinder, 9-litre and inline six-cylinder, 13-litre engines (latter is a Euro 6 certified truck engine). The company claims that all of its Euro 6 certified diesel engines use biodiesel blends of up to 10 percent.

Photograph: Keolis Scania ethanol bus file photo. Ethanol is the most cost-effective biofuel globally in terms of availability, infrastructure and access to tried-and-tested technology.